April’s Stress Awareness Month is designed to educate people to facts about the different things stress can do to your emotional, mental, and physical health. Learn these six facts about stress this month.
More Than Half of Americans Report Feeling Daily Stress
In the U.S., 55% of Americans report feeling daily stress. This is higher than the global average. Stress can make people feel hopeless and ready to quit jobs or make other major lifestyle changes.
Rising Prices and Inflation Is a Leading Trigger of Stress
As a family caregiver, you likely pay very close attention to a budget. Almost 90% of people in a national study reported that rising gas, food, and utility bills are a leading cause of excessive stress.
Chronic Stress Affects the Entire Body
Stress doesn’t just impact your brain. When you’re stressed, one of the things that happens is that your muscles tense anticipating an injury. If you’re continually stressed and you don’t have an outlet for relieving stress, the muscle pain can seem severe.
During moments of extreme stress, your breathing changes in anticipation of the danger your body senses is coming. You’ll breathe faster and that can lead to chest pain. Chest pain may increase the alarm you feel thinking you’re having a heart attack.
You’ll also find that your heart beats faster, increasing your pulse and blood pressure. It’s all part of a fight or flight response that occurs with chronic stress.
It Can Lead to General Stress Syndrome
General stress syndrome is a condition where the stress you experience ends up affecting your entire body. It starts with the alarm or “fight or flight” response. From there, the body releases chemicals that trigger the body to prepare for an attack. That is the “stage of resistance.”
Once your body prepares for the attack by increasing respiration, heart rate, etc., you enter the “exhaustion stage.” At this point, your body has no energy left and you feel the crash and drain.
It Takes the Body As Much as 90 Minutes to Recover From a Panic Attack
When stress is too much and the body reacts by triggering a fight or flight response with a panic attack, it takes as much as an hour and a half for your metabolism to bounce back.
57% of Family Caregivers Do Not Rate Their Health as Higher Than “Good”
A survey of unpaid caregivers, many of them caring for a parent, rated their health as no better than good. One out of five rated their health as poor or fair. One of the leading reasons family caregivers don’t feel their health is excellent is that they experience stress and don’t feel they have the bandwidth to take care of themselves.
Do you often feel overwhelmed as a family caregiver? Do you spend so much time caring for your mom or dad that you ignore self-care? It’s time to change that.
Become your mom’s family caregiver, but make sure you take time off with respite care services. Hire in-home care aides to spend days with your mom while you run errands, go out with friends, or take a short vacation. Call a home care specialist to learn more about the prices and services available with in-home care.
Sources:
https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2021/05/caregiving-in-the-united-states-50-plus.doi.10.26419-2Fppi.00103.022.pdf
If you or an aging loved one is considering in-home care in Cherry Hills, CO, call the caring staff at SYNERGY Home Care of Denver today. 303-756-9322
